Page 104 of Swept Away

Morning Cuppais probably watched by millions of people a day. I look to Marissa.

“This one’s been hanging about like a bad smell,” she says. “I’ve seen him here most nights since you got back.”

Interesting. He’s waited until now to come over and talk to me.

“Your story, what you’ve been through—honestly, Zeke, it’s incredible.”

Nicholas has a real candor to him. A kind of intense earnestness. I imagine he’s very good at his job.

“Our viewers would love to hear from you and Lexi. When you’re ready to talk.”

“Not interested,” I say. “But thanks.”

“That’s such a shame,” he says. “Especially when I’ve got Lexi on board.”

My gaze flies up to Marissa again. She blinks. She didn’t know, either.

“Lexi said yes? To going on TV?” I ask, finally giving Nicholas my full attention.

He nods. “Absolutely. The money was too good to pass up, I think. Obviously you know she’s looking for her own place, and she’s got her niece to look after…”

“Not her niece,” Marissa says abruptly.

“Oh, no?” Nicholas says.

“Not her niece,” Marissa repeats. She rubs emphatically at the glass she’s drying with a cloth. “Lexi wouldn’t say yes.”

“Call her,” Nicholas says. “She’ll tell you.”

Marissa narrows her eyes and pulls out her phone. Lexi’snumber is in that phone. Marissa’s messaging her right now, just throwing a few words out there like it’s nothing at all, when every moment of the day I’d kill for the chance to talk to her.

While we wait for Lexi’s reply, I inspect Nicholas. He looks very relaxed. He smiles at me.

“Honestly, I have so many questions,” he says. “But I don’t want to put that on you right now. Not until you’re ready.”

I say nothing. In the last week I’ve encountered a full range of people who want things from me. It’s incredibly weird. Most people like the story of us, I’ve realized—they aren’t really interested in talking to me, they’re just interested in telling other people they have. So when it comes to the actual conversation, they don’t really say much.

Journalists are different. They want sound bites. They want to walk you into a little trap that gets them the exact arrangement of words they need, so they ask questions like,And do you feel like loving Lexi made the journey harder, or did it keep you going?

Basically, they don’t want to know about the oil rig or the storm, they just want to know if Lexi and I were having sex.

“She’s doing it,” Marissa says in surprise. “She says…yeah. The money. It would mean she could move out and buy her own place, and there’s somewhere for sale in the same building as Mae and Penny, so she wants the cash fast.”

I cling to all the details this gives me. Lexi’s stuck to her decision to move out and find her own place: good. She’s rebuilt things with Penny and is prioritizing what matters to her most, time with Mae—also good. She’s ready to talk about what happened on the boat to the entire nation, but won’t talk to me: less good.

“You want me and Lexi on at the same time?” I say, turning to Nicholas. “Together?”

“Absolutely,” he says.

I study him for a moment. Wondering how much he knows.How much he’s figured out. He’s seen that it was Marissa, not me, who messaged Lexi—that probably tells him plenty.

“I’ll do it,” I say. “Just tell me when.”

“You look miserable,” Jeremy says, as we walk through the grounds of Alnwick Castle three days later, looking for the perfect picnic spot.

Lyra has very strict criteria. No direct sunlight—she burns easily. No bugs. Nothing prickly. Basically, Lyra prefers not to go outdoors unless it’s absolutely unavoidable, so she likes her picnic spot to be as indoorsy as possible.

“Is this why I’m here? Sibling intervention?” I say.

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